Every day millions of bills are received in the mail and then paid by check. However, there are numerous difficulties associated with this practice. A check may be stolen in the mail and cashed by someone other than the payee. The account number may be copied from the check and later used to commit fraud. There is also considerable cost and time delay when checks are used as the payment method. The check clearing process usually takes several days, and checks must be physically handled and stored. Furthermore, many banks mail cancelled checks back to their customers, which is yet another cost involved in using checks.
In recent years, various methods have been developed to electronically make bill payments without checks. One such method is called direct deposit. In this scheme, a specified amount is deducted from the customer's checking account on a specified date, and transferred to a billing entity. However, the bill is automatically paid without review by the customer.
There are also several ways to pay recurring bills via the Internet. When a particular bill is to be paid, the bill is forwarded to a bill payment system. The bill then is either automatically paid or it is presented to the customer online and then the customer selects the bill for payment. An example of such a bill payment system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,322 to Kitchen et al., entitled “Electronic Bill Processing,” and assigned to CheckFree Corporation. Although many individuals use such bill payment systems, drawbacks include the necessity to deviate from the usual bill paying method and the requirement that the customer have Internet access. Moreover, many people feel uncomfortable about making online payments.